Beginning of Jesus' public ministry

The Jordan and the first signs

Mark 1:2-13; John 1:19 to 3:21 · 8 stops · 9 readings

The baptism, the wilderness, the first disciples and the first miracle — and then, at the Passover, the first confrontation in the Temple.

John is preaching and baptizing along the lower Jordan when Jesus comes down from Galilee and is baptized among the crowds. What follows immediately is forty days alone in the wilderness of Judea, the barren limestone country west of the river. Back at Bethany beyond the Jordan, John points him out to his own followers, and the first disciples (Andrew, Simon, Philip, Nathanael) attach themselves to him there rather than in Galilee. The route then climbs north for a village wedding at Cana, where the water becomes wine and the sign is worked almost privately, pauses at Capernaum on the lake, and turns south again for Passover. In the Temple courts Jesus drives out the money-changers and the sellers of sacrificial animals, the first open confrontation of the ministry. Afterwards Nicodemus, a member of the ruling council, comes to him at night with the questions he cannot ask in daylight.

The stops

1. 1

   Jordan River region

   DebatedRepresentative lower Jordan point · Jordan Valley

   • The message and the messengerMark 1:2-6; Matthew 3:1-6; Luke 3:3-6
2. 2

   Bethany beyond the Jordan

   ProbableAl-Maghtas baptism area · Jordan Valley, Jordan

   • Jesus baptized by John in the JordanMark 1:9-11; Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-23
3. 3

   Wilderness of Judea

   DebatedRepresentative point in the Judaean Desert · Judean Desert

   • The three temptations of JesusMark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13
4. 4

   Bethany beyond the Jordan

   ProbableAl-Maghtas baptism area · Jordan Valley, Jordan

   • John's identification of Jesus as the MessiahJohn 1:29-34
   • Jesus makes his first disciplesJohn 1:35-51
5. 5

   Cana of Galilee

   ProbableHorbat Qana / Khirbet Qana · Lower Galilee

   • Jesus works his first miracleJohn 2:1-11
6. 6

   Capernaum

   High confidenceTell Hum / Kfar Nahum · Sea of Galilee, north shore

   • Jesus makes a first sojourn at Capernaum, accompanied by his kindred and his early disciplesJohn 2:12
7. 7

   Jerusalem Temple

   High confidenceTemple Mount platform · Jerusalem area

   • The first cleansing of the temple at the PassoverJohn 2:13-22
8. 8

   Jerusalem

   High confidenceJerusalem settlement centroid · Jerusalem area

   • The interview of Nicodemus with JesusJohn 2:23 to 3:21

The line drawn on the map connects these stops in narrative order. It is schematic: it does not claim to trace the exact road between them, and each place carries its own confidence rating.

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